Family Secrets
by jezzameL554
Summary: Marie is a 9 year-old girl who lives in the subways of NYC. She has nightmares about some inner demon that's trying to escape from inside her. After being fed up with them, she leaves the city with her friend. -CANCELED-
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – The Demon Within

It was quiet. And dark, too dark for this to even be a real place. The girl looked around her several times, but every time she turned around, there was no one there. Her brown eyes were wide with terror, for she hated being alone. She called out names. Scratch that, she _screamed _out names. Her family, her friends, even her mortal enemies. No one was there, no one answered.

Then she heard the faintest of voices call her name, "…Marie…"

She whirled around to find a hooded figure standing a few feet away from her. She gulped, "Who… who are you?"

She could see the figure smirk, "Why, I'm you." She lifted her head so Marie could see her face. Marie's eyes widened even more as she stood there, staring at herself, minus the mirror. But, there was something… almost sinister about her. She had a gleam of malice in her eyes, and her smirk mocked Marie as she was trying to hold back a scream. "Why so frightened, Marie? Don't you know what you are?" The sinister Marie laughed a laugh like the one you would hear an insane-psycho-killer laugh just before they kill you.

Marie gathered all the strength she could manage, "W-what do you mean? I'm me, nothing else but me!" she blurted out, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

Her mirror-self laughed again, "Then you don't know," she smirked. "Let me enlighten you then." Marie watched as her other transformed. Her hair turned from jet black to crimson. Her eyes inverted, the white part turned to a dark ashen color, and the pupils were as red as blood. Her nails and canine teeth sharpened and lengthened. Marks that looked almost like scars formed under her eyes.

Marie couldn't hold it in any longer, she screamed. She spun around and ran, trying to get as far away from that… creature as she could.

The demon snarled, "Scream while you can Marie! I WILL be free!" With that, it launched itself at Marie, claws in front of it as if to tear the raven apart. Marie stumbled and fell onto the shadowy ground. She turned over to see where her attacker was but the demon had disappeared. She stood up and scanned the area. _Where'd she-____I- go?_

Her question was immediately answered as she was thrown back to the ground. Air flew from her lungs as she hit the base. She heard a snicker from behind her, "Sheesh, if you're this weak, I'll have no problem taking over." Marie felt someone step onto her back, she looked up to see her demon, ready to plunge its claws into her heart, and, go figure, kill her. The blood-eyed demon brought its hand down with so much speed that Marie only saw a blur. That blur was followed by another as the demon was tackled to the ground before it could break through Marie's flesh.

Marie stood up to see what had happened. She stared in shock as she made out a dark figure standing between her and her demon. She could easily tell that her rescuer was a boy. He was a few feet taller than her, but he had the same shoulder-length raven-colored hair. He wore a sleeveless black shirt, dark green knee-length shorts that looked like they had a million pockets, and black combat boots. Marie's demon snarled at him, "Who are you?" The male raven was silent. He turned to the real Marie and she gasped; he had no face.

She could still hear his words clearly like she would if he had a mouth, "Are you okay?" Marie's throat felt paralyzed so she just nodded. He turned back to the other and snarled at it, "Why are you trying to kill yourself?"

Marie's demon looked baffled, but its expression quickly turned to rage, "Why do you think? I wanna get out of here! So, GET OUT OF MY WAY!" It roared and threw itself at the male.

Even though he had no face, Marie could tell he was smirking. He extended his right arm to the side, and, to Marie's amazement, the arm began to glow. The glow turned to an energy that looked like blue lightning. The energy grew until it engulfed his entire arm, and, when it did, he launched himself at the advancing demon.

Marie watched in almost awe as the two advanced in their attack. The male threw his arm toward the demon and it responded by slashing at him with black, glowing claws. The forces met, and exploded on contact. The force of the explosion threw Marie back. Her head hit the ground and she drifted into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Leaving NYC

Marie woke to the sound of a subway tearing its way down the tracks, also by her screaming. She sat up, panting, and looked around with panic-stricken eyes until she found out that it was only a dream. She found herself back in her makeshift home in the abandoned subway station in downtown New York. Complete with a stolen plasma screen TV and futon. She sighed, she's been having that same dream ever since she ran away from home. Which was about three months ago when her mom told her she was engaged. She thought that changing her location would stop the nightmares, but they only got worse. And with each one, the demon got closer and closer to killing her.

Marie shuddered, that was the closest one yet. She could still remember the gleam of triumph the demon had in its eyes as it was poised to kill Marie. Then, there was that boy that saved her every time. He reminded her of someone, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She decided to put it out of her mind for the time being.

Marie sat there for a few more minutes before making up her mind: it's time to move, again. Marie stood and stretched. She felt a sharp crack in her leg and she crashed back down onto the futon. "Ow, dangit!" she rubbed her leg and attempted to stand again. She was victorious this time.

While she was packing the few things she had, her mp3 player, a few outfits, and some money she snatched from that old guy a few weeks ago, she didn't hear the footsteps behind her. Marie froze when she heard a gruff voice from behind her, "Going somewhere princess?" Marie whirled around to find the last four people she wanted to see then, or any time for that matter, standing there.

The one who spoke was a tall male, bald though. He wore a orange-ish colored vest over a dark brown t-shirt, brown shorts that reached down below his knees, and black boots. His 'gang' look was complete with the goggles he wore on his forehead and his lip ring. He frowned at Marie, "Why would you leave? We were just starting to get to know each other,"

Marie's eyes narrowed, "You four jerks are most of the reason I'm leaving. Don't you have some poor tourists to mug?" She turned back around and finished up her packing.

"You should show some respect for your elders," Marie hated that voice; it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. She turned back around, her backpack slung around her right shoulder. The guy next to baldy was smirking at her. He was a bit shorter than the leader, a lot scrawnier too. He had most of his head shaved, except for the middle strip; which was dyed blue and fixed up in a mohawk.

Marie raised her brow and turned to walk away, only to be stopped by the other two members of baldy's gang. One had darker skin with dreadlocks fixed up in a high ponytail; the other was like mohawk boy, except he had his hair dyed green and had it up in three ponytails. Marie laughed when she first saw him, which earned her a good beating.

The four advanced on her, expecting her to turn tail and run. But she just stood her ground. After facing the demon in her dreams every night, she wasn't scared of anything below that.

"What's wrong with you? There's four of us and one of you." the leader questioned her. Marie just gave him a look that said 'Yeah, so?' He scowled, "You should be running like all normal people do when they're outnumbered."

The green-haired bozo snickered, "Yeah, all normal people, then that freak! Even Kevin knew when he was beat!" The rest of the gang burst out laughing. They had mentioned him before, countless times. She hated that they called him a freak, and what's worse is they wouldn't even tell her why.

Marie snorted, "Why exactly are you guys laughing? From what I heard, you got your butts handed to you by that 'freak'." They stopped laughing and started advancing again, this time with weapons. Three had knives and the leader had a gun. Figures he'd have the good weapon, Marie thought to herself.

They kept advancing until they had backed Marie into a corner. The leader advanced alone then. "Now, be a good little girl and apologize," Marie scowled; she hated it when people called her little. She was nine for crying out loud! Not some sniveling little kid who clings to their mom. The leader continued as if Marie was terrified, "If, you do, I won't have to hurt you." He smirked and his gun clicked.

Faint scuffling sounds came from the stairs. Marie's eyes widened then narrowed. She smiled, "Bring it on." The three behind the 'boss' snickered and mumbled something about her 'signing her own death papers'. Marie rose her brow and the leader brought his gun to her head.

"Last chance, princess. Or I'll pull the trigger." he wanted to shoot, Marie knew that. But for some weird reason, he couldn't.

"I'd put the gun down if I were you." a scratchy voice came from behind him. Marie's would-have-been killer turned around to find the rest of his gang unconscious. Objects that looked like darts were in their necks. Standing over them was a short figure. He wore faded jeans and a black hooded jacket. The hood was over his head so no one could see his face.

Before the last-standing jerk wad could move or say anything, Marie roundhouse-kicked him in the back of the head, knocking him out. The four unconscious bodies just lied there. Marie smiled and walked over to her friend, "Nice timing dude."

"Yeah, whatever. You owe me for this one," he pointed a clawed finger at the raven. Marie raised her hands in defeat. With a snort, he lifted his hood off his head. He has a good reason for wearing his hood. Reason being, he's a four-foot rat. His fur was a pale gray and his eyes were a golden color. He had a short snout that was filled with small, sharp fangs. He wore the black quills on his head like human hair. In each quill was a weak poison that would knock you out if you were to be stabbed with one. He was able to shoot them out of his head, making him a little more dangerous than the average porcupine.

"We're heading out again," Marie said as she passed him and was making her way up the stairs. Argit groaned and Marie glared daggers at him.

"Alright, fine," he sighed lifted his hood again, concealing himself. "But you owe me double for this."

"Yeah, whatever," Marie was always an exceptional imitator and, when used at the right times, always cracked people up. Argit was no exception, he laughed as they made their way out of the station and into the city.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Ecto-Wha?

After about three weeks of roaming they made it all the way down to Maryland. Before they even crossed into the next city beyond New York, Marie had jacked some roller blades and Argit got a skateboard. Marie was a natural skater, so she didn't have much trouble learning. Argit, however, didn't fare so well. The raven would giggle madly each time he fell and he'd glare at her until she agreed to help teach him. After only a few hours he was able to go on for a while without flying off or crashing. Having wheels under their feet made the trip much shorter, but no less tiring. They'd stop each night and find some place to sleep. Marie usually slept in the branches of trees, she felt safer up there; Argit kept to the ground. And for once, Marie slept soundly. She didn't have one nightmare since they left New York.

When the fourth week came around, they hit DC. Marie sat under a tree while Argit was off robbing some tourist of their cash, again. Marie rolled her eyes; ever since she met him he'd always been a petty thief. She closed her eyes to relax in the shade.

A few minutes later, Argit returned to the tree; a triumphant smirk planted on his rat-like face.

"How much did you get this time?" Marie opened her right eye as she questioned him.

Argit dropped a bag at Marie's side, "That guy was loaded! I don't even think I got half of what he's got," he jabbed his thumb in the direction of his previous victim. Marie dug around in the bag to see how much he snatched.

"Oh dang!" Marie's eyes widened. "There's over forty-five hundred bucks in here! This is way more than we need, Argit." She looked up at the eleven-year-old. He simply shrugged and grabbed a handful of money from the bag.

"I'm getting something to eat, and maybe a new sweatshirt. This one smells worse than the subway station did."

Marie snorted, "No duh, Sherlock." Argit narrowed his eyes at her, "Fine, whatever! Just don't get into any trouble." She waved him off.

He laughed, "Yeah, sure. See ya later," he waved as he ran off. Marie watched him until he was out of sight.

She sighed and looked up at the leaves above her head. Her mind flashed back to her absent nightmares. In doing so resurrected her unanswered questions. Why was she a demon in every one? Who was that boy? But most important: Why had they stopped? Not that it was a bad thing…

Marie was on the verge of sleep when she heard someone approaching. She sat up and turned toward the source, hoping and also doubting it was Argit.

Her doubts won out. The figure standing before her was human, as far as she could tell. She stood up and looked the newcomer up and down before speaking. "And who are you?"

The boy just stood there. He was a little bit taller than Marie. His hair was silver and his bangs hung over where his right eye should've been. The showing eye was a pale violet, almost as pale as his skin. Dang this kid needed some sun! He wore black jeans with silver chains hanging down from the belt loops. His shirt was an almost black purple and, over it, he wore a silver vest.

Marie huffed, "What? Can't talk?" no answer. "I asked you a question!" still no answer. She growled and stomped over to the boy. "Hello!" she waved her hand in front of his face.

The boy looked down at her and grinned, showing his razor-like teeth. Marie stepped back. He chuckled, "You're a lot different from the girls I know."

"How so?" Marie's voice shook and she cursed at herself for it.

"First off, all the girls I know never say a word to me. Well, they call me a freak, but that's about it. And second, they don't live under trees," he crossed his arms over his chest. Marie couldn't help but giggle a little. The boy smiled again, "I'm Matt, by the way," he extended his right hand.

Marie hesitated before taking his hand, "Marie."

"Well, it's nice to meet ya, Marie. So, what brings you to DC?"

Marie walked back to the tree she used for a pillow and sat down again. Matt followed and sat down next to her. "I'm with a friend and, I dunno, I guess we just needed a change of scenery." She looked at him sideways and he nodded, saying he knew how it felt. Marie noticed his face was bright red, but she decided to let it go. "So where do you live?"

Matt glanced over at her, his blush disappearing, "Want me to show ya?"

Marie shrugged, "If you wanna." Matt stood up and motioned for her to follow. She did as directed and followed her new friend into the city.

Matt's place was a lot like Marie's. Well, except it wasn't in a subway station and it had more stuff in it. Marie's eyes were wide as she looked around. He had a huge TV; she guessed it was about 60 by 65 inches. An amazingly high-tech-looking radio and what looked like a DJ station covered the wall farthest away from Marie. He pretty much had the place she'd wanted but never had the guts to get. She would've had to steal, a LOT, and she wasn't about to become a hypocrite (she told Argit again and again to stop).

Matt glanced over and saw her amazed-five-year-old face and snorted. "Enjoying yourself?" he asked with a laugh. Marie, who was still mesmerized, nodded. Matt laughed even harder.

The raven snapped out of her 'admire' trance and turned to Matt, "I still have a few questions for you." She put her right hand on her hip and pointed at the male with the other.

He leaned on the wall, "Sure, shoot."

She opened her mouth to start when police sirens went by. 'Argit you idiot.' She ran to the sidewalk and turned back to the confused boy. Marie rolled her eyes, "Come on!" She ran off with Matt two steps behind her.

As they ran, Marie felt like she was picking up more and more speed. She thought she was crazy at first, but then saw the cop cars she was gaining on. Then she remembered Matt. She glanced behind her to see how far back he was, only to trip on a pebble. 'Smooth, Marie' she growled at herself and blushed.

Matt had no trouble keeping up with the raven. Even though she was outrunning three police cars, he wasn't more than a few paces behind her. He saw her look back and trip. He chuckled as Marie's face turned bright red. What she didn't know that, while he looked like he was running, his feet weren't touching the ground. He'd explain that later, after they saved her friend.

They reached an alleyway and saw cop cars parked around the entrance. Marie started in, only to be stopped by Matt. "What are you doing? He needs help!" she pleaded, not taking her eyes off the alley.

"I know, but I have a better idea than just rushing in and hoping we get lucky." Marie looked up at him, confused. He smiled back down at her, "Ya trust me, right?" the raven nodded. "Then follow me." Matt climbed up a ladder on the side of a building and dashed up the staircases that led to the roof, Marie right behind.

Once on the roof, Matt turned to the raven. "You think you can jump to the other roof?"

She looked at him, wide eyed, "Are you CRAZY?!" The space between the roof they were standing on and the next was about ten feet.

"Well, you were just outrunning speeding cop cars…"

Marie opened her mouth, and then closed it after second thoughts. "Good point…" she grumbled. "But that was on the ground, this isn't! What if-"

Matt put a hand over her mouth, "Relax! I won't let you get hurt, okay? Just get a running start and you'll make it." Marie nodded and moved to the far end of her soon-to-be launching pad.

Before she could think twice about it, Marie was sprinting to the edge. She launched off of her previous foothold and, to her total surprise, landed smoothly on the other roof. She heard a faint thud behind her and turned around to find Matt with an I-told-you-so look on his face. "Oh, shut up."

Matt shook his head, "No time for dawdling. We have to save your friend remember? They're probably a ways in the alley. We'll have to hop and drop to get there."

"I didn't forget," she smirked. "Race ya."

"You are so on."

They stealthily jumped over a good number of gaps. Matt won, by an inch. They were on the roof that loomed over where the police had Argit cornered. Marie could make out a few lines of them on the ground, most likely due to the quills. 'Idiot' she mentally cursed at him. His hood was down, showing his ratty-ness to the world.

"What is he?" Marie jumped; she forgot Matt was there.

She sighed, "We don't really know. What's the plan?"

Matt's face lit up, "I've got an idea."

Marie was about to ask what his so-called master plan was, but when she turned to ask, he was gone. "What the-" she stopped mid-sentence and gasped when she felt ice-cold hands grab her shoulders. Before she could do anything, Marie felt as if she was falling through the floor.

When she finally stopped falling, Marie found herself around the corner from where Argit was. "You okay?" she jumped and whirled around to find Matt standing behind her. His violet eye was faintly glowing.

"Did you do that?" Matt nodded. "I expect an explanation after," Matt nodded again. "Now that we're down here, what do we do?"

"Is there anything else you can do besides run and jump?"

"How the heck should I know?"

"True… Then just follow my lead," he moved to the edge of corner that was their current shelter. "I'll take out the cops. You get your friend."

"And how exactly can you take out twenty police officers on your own?" Marie raised a brow at him.

He smiled, "Same way I can vanish and go through walls; I'm an Ectonurite."

"Ecto-what? I'm adding that to the explanation list."

"Whatever. Just stay here for a little bit. When you hear the shots die down, go in and get him out. Okay?"

Marie hesitated, worried that her new friend would get hurt because of her. But she nodded anyways. Matt nodded back before racing around the corner and screeching like a wild animal. Marie winced when she started hearing the screams and gunshots. But she managed to giggle a bit when she noticed that Argit was one of the screamers.

The shots were dying down; now all she had to do was dash in and grab her friend before they were spotted. Easy, right? Marie took a deep breath and whirled around the corner. She could see Matt, then she couldn't, and then she could again. Dang this was confusing. It looked like he was phasing through the officers, making them unconscious when he reappeared. Argit was huddled in the far corner of the alley. Marie ran up to him and dragged him to his feet.

He was looking at her with complete shock, "What the heck are you doing here?"

"No time to explain! Come on!" Marie grabbed his wrist and took off running.

They reached the edge of the corner that Marie had been hiding behind before. But, when they rounded it to get away, someone was standing there, apparently waiting for them. Marie and Argit froze, both thinking the same, simple thing, 'Crap.'

The man that blocked their path was really tall. Put Marie on Matt's shoulders and he was still taller. He had short blonde hair. He was dressed like some monster chaser; he wore a black jacket, brownish backpack with a gun holder on one of the straps, gray pants, and black boots.

His icy blue eyes were glaring down at the two escapees. Argit tried to run, but an officer that was behind them took hold of the back of his jacket. He tried to knock the man out, but his quills kept bouncing off the armor the other was wearing. Then the blonde man picked up Marie by the collar of her shirt. She started kicking at him, but he only laughed.

"Struggle all you want, kid. You three are all coming with me for examination."

Marie froze, "Three?" She turned back to Matt, who was now in some kind of net. He was trying to phase through it, but he had no luck.

"I've dealt with Ectonurites before, so I know what they can and can't get through." he glanced over at Argit, "But with this one we just improvised. That just leaves you," he returned his attention to the girl in his grip, who went back to kicking. "As far as I can tell, you have no powers, yet you're helping these…things I guess you can call them."

Marie glared at the man, and he seemed to flinch, "They're my friends, what other reason do I need?"

"Friends huh? Goody for you." a soldier walked up to the man and whispered something that Marie couldn't pick up. "Get rid of the rat first, we don't know what else it can do."

The raven's eyes widened, "Get rid of?! You mean KILL?!" the soldier smirked before going back to guard Argit. She snarled and lashed out at the blonde. One of her nails caught the skin above his left eye, and as she swiped it across, it tore a huge scar in his face, ending under his right eye. He screamed and dropped Marie.

"Lt. Steel!" Marie couldn't stop herself from snickering at how many soldiers responded at one time. She took advantage of the confusion and went to free her friends. For some reason, she found herself dashing over to Matt first. She sliced the net that held him down.

Matt stared at the scarred-for-life-Lt. while Marie untied Argit. They dashed off without one look back.

When they finally stopped running, they were back at the tree Marie and Argit were at earlier that day. Matt leaned on the tree, Marie collapsed, and Argit face planted on the ground. The other two laughed.

"Some day huh?" Matt broke the silence. He smiled at Marie and she looked away.

Argit lifted his head, "I just remembered something, who are you?" He turned his gaze to the Ectonurite.

"Matt, met Marie earlier today. Then helped save you."

"Oh, right. Thanks by the way." he laid his head back down.

"How did you two meet up?" he asked Marie.

"We both lived in New York. His parents were divorced, and he didn't know what else to do but run away. I never knew my dad. I ran away because my mom was getting remarried. And I hated her boyfriend's guts so much-"

Argit chuckled, "You still do."

Marie sighed, "Old habits die hard." Matt laughed, "What happened to you?"

He stopped laughing and his eye grew dark. Marie thought she said something wrong and apologized, Matt held up his hand, You don't have to feel bad, it's not your fault." he sighed, "There was nothing wrong with my parents. They were awesome. My dad was an Ectonurite like me, and my mom was human."

"What happened then?" Marie asked. Argit sat up to listen.

"Back on my dad's home planet, no one was really the 'kind' type. He was a misfit and they hated him for it. My dad fled when they started hunting him. Earth wasn't an interest to most others, so he hid here. After a few months he met up with my mom and they got together. Then," he paused for a second. "…When I was about three, the Ectonurites found him. They had some help too; some weird people dressed up like knights. Then they…"

"Killed him…" Marie barely whispered.

Matt nodded slowly, "My mom too. I don't even know how I escaped. It was too long ago."

"Man, that sucks…" Argit mumbled.

After a few minutes of silence, Marie spoke up, "We should get going pretty soon so Scarface and his buddies don't find us." Argit nodded and stood up. Marie looked back at Matt, "Are you coming?"

He raised a brow, "You want me to?"

"It's not really a choice, they're going to be looking for all of us."

He stood up to follow, "All right then. Where exactly are we going?"

Marie laughed, "No idea."


End file.
